


Nonsense

by evanderblake



Series: The Angst Series [3]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Angst, Choking, Domestic Violence, Fighting, M/M, Verbal Abuse, Violence, Whump, phsyical abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 00:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14093346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanderblake/pseuds/evanderblake
Summary: Based on the prompts, “I can’t live without you. Don’t go. Please,” and “Hang on. You’re gonna be okay. Keep breathing.”This is part of my Angst Series on tumblr!





	Nonsense

It was rare that their home was this silent, with no creaking floorboards, no rushing cars outside, and not even any blowing wind to rattle their windows. The only sounds he could hear was his own breathing and the man snoring lightly next to him.

And his heartbeat. Which was thumping a bit erratically.

Through the open window, he could see the shine of the moon, only a waxing crescent that night, beaming through the window and lighting the room just enough so that he could see the man’s chest lift and descend next to him – something he once viewed as comforting. Now it felt more like a threat, that sure, he was sleeping now, but soon he would wake up and it would start all over again. The yelling. The screaming. The fighting. He wasn’t sure that he could take much more of it.

He slowly, carefully sat up in bed, trying not to disturb the older man, sending a silent prayer that some sort of unnatural force would keep him asleep for as long as possible. The silence was nice in his ringing ears; it reminded him that there was still some sanctity in the universe. He sat up against the headboard, gazing down at the mop of hair that covered the other man’s face. He smiled bitterly. He was still beautiful – he was positive of that – but now he knew what sort of beast laid dormant inside, the kind of evil that he could be.

As slowly as he possibly could, Arin moved off the bed. He was practically holding his breath, afraid that any noise would wake him, would enrage him once more. He padded over to the window, looking up at the clear sky, at the stars, and he sighed. He wished that things would go back to how they used to be, before he knew how terrible he could be.

He hadn’t noticed that Dan’s snoring had stopped.

“What are you doing?” his groggy voice questioned from the bed behind him.

Arin turned around quicker than a lightning bolt, finding Dan’s hard, dark eyes peering from underneath this tangled mess of hair.

“Sorry I was just… the moon looks so pretty tonight,” he replied, his voice wavering and breaking just a little.

“Whatever. Come lay down,” Dan snapped, rolling over and sighing, clearly frustrated.

Arin waited for a moment, looking back up at the moon longingly. God, how he wished he could be anywhere else. Somewhere safe. Somewhere happy.

“What happened to us?” he barely whispered, a tear slipping down his cheek. Arin wrapped his arms around his midsection, inhaling sharply as though he’d been injured. “You never used to be like this.”

Dan groaned from the bed and sat up, pushing the covers down to his legs and exposing his bare chest. “What do you mean, ‘like this?’” he asked, the raw anger in his voice returning. “I haven’t changed, Arin.”

He quickly wiped the tear from his eye, turning around to face him once more. His lips were pressed together, holding back a sneer no doubt, and his arms were folding across his chest, impatiently awaiting a response.

“You never used to treat me like this. All you do now is yell at me, and most of the time, I don’t even know why,” Arin explained as he started to shiver. He knew what was going to happen. Dan didn’t like hearing the truth.

Sure enough, his legs swung out of bed and he approached Arin, standing just a few feet from him.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Dan started, his voice carrying a deadly precision. “If I do yell, it’s your own damn fault for being so idiotic all the time, pestering me with your animating nonsense.”

Arin’s stomach twisted. “My… nonsense?”

Dan scoffed, rolling his eyes. “All your stupid little drawings. You think I’d actually waste my own time caring about that shit?”

Arin took a hesitant step back as Dan took a deliberate step forward. “I’ve got enough on my damn mind without you shoving some kindergartner cartoon in my face,” he spit, his words full of malice, his fists balling at his sides.

“This…” Arin began, choking back a sob. “This is what I was talking about. You… you don’t even like being around me. You don’t like my work, my friends, my hobbies… all you like doing is treating me like shit!” He was yelling, shaking with all the rage he’d been concealing, that had been building with each irrational outburst. “What if, maybe… I don’t like your work? How you’re always singing your stupid music You’d rather be with Brian! Does he know how you treat me, Dan?”

Dan slithered forward and wrapped a hand around Arin’s neck, pressing just enough to make him uncomfortable, to make him want to scream. He clawed at Dan’s hand, trying to remove the pressure, to get a gasp of air, anything to help him. But he wouldn’t budge.

“No one is going to know about this. You keep your mouth shut about all this shit, or the next time you wake up will be on the streets. Keep in mind, Arin,” he shuddered at the way his name sounded on Dan’s lips, “you’re living in my house, eating my food, and sleeping in my bed. I can take all those things away from you faster than you could ever imagine.”

Arin spit in his eye, causing him to reel back. Arin gasped as the pressure on his throat was lifted, and he ran toward the bedroom door, leaving Dan on the floor in the shimmering moonlight.

“No! Please, don’t go! I… I can’t live without you!” Dan desperately pleaded, doing his best to guilt the other man into staying, into putting up with his act. He looked so pitiful, sprawled out on the wooden floor, reaching toward Arin with one hand while covering his eye with the other.

“That’s a fucking lie, and everyone on the block knows it, Dan. You hate me. You only like being around me when you get to hurt me. So fuck you,” Arin answered calmly as he slammed the door behind him, running out of the house and as far down the street as he could before running out of breath.

The streetlights guiding him illuminated the street, moist with dew and shining beautifully. It reminded him of a video game he’d played.

It reminded him of playing the game with Dan.

He sat down on the curb of the street, his head between his knees crying miserably. Keep breathing, he thought, pretending as if he could sooth himself. You’re gonna be okay. Just keep breathing.

In through the nose, out through the mouth, then he wept. In his pocket his phone buzzed, and he knew it was him.

And he kept running.


End file.
